Russian Special Forces join Syrian Arab Army in Battle for Palmyra oil fields.

Palmyra Syria – Reports coming out of Russian and Syrian media sources are indicating that Russian Special Forces have been seen joining in the fight to reclaim the strategically vital city of Palmyra from the Islamic State. Russian-led warplanes continue to pound the surrounding area of Palmyra on Monday as reinforcements from the Syria Arab Army flood into the southern city to push out Islamic State fighters in an attempt to stop what could turn into a bloody quagmire that the Assad regime and its Russian allies cannot afford.

Through sources on the ground, Syrian media out of Damascus is reporting that Russian Special Forces are playing a key role in destroying the latest ISIS offensive. Russian SOF have purportedly been actively engaging with ISIS opposition and directing Russian flown attack helicopters as well as warplanes via target designation in the Al-Amiriyah district to include the northwest mountain range of Jabal Tar as well as the Palmyra oil and gas refineries in the east. It is unclear whether the Russian Special Forces were already based at the Et Tifor airbase on the outskirts of the city or accompanied the tribal faction of the Syrian Arab Army(SAA) known as the ‘Qalamoun Shield’ out of Damascus. Elements of the SAA’s 11th and 18th Division along with the National Defense Force(NDF) and the ‘Shaheen Group’ or ‘Tiger Forces’ will join with the Qalamoun Shield to drive the some 4,000 Islamic State fighters out of the oil rich region of Palmyra and back into the desert. But where did ISIS gather such a force from?

Syrian Arab Army Forces heading to Palmyra. Photo: Al-Masdar

On Sunday Russian intelligence officials along with Russia’s Center for Syrian Reconciliation claimed that the Islamic State was making plans to transfer up to 5,000 of its fighters from its forces in Mosul to the Syrian cities of Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor through the safe passage corridor provided by the United States. Russian intelligence services are eluding that this very corridor is responsible for the most recent attack on the Palmyra region as initial reports from Russian and Syrian intelligence is that up to 4,000 ISIS fighters attacked the city from the directions of both Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor itself. Russian authorities are surmising that the Iraqi-led coalition in the retaking of Mosul have sought the easiest route to victory and the terrorists’ final destination was of little or no concern.

Sergei Demidenko of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANERA) echoed these claims by stating; “Certainly it’s possible (that militants were allowed to leave Mosul), but not in the sense that they wanted to inflict damage on Bashar Assad or Russia. Of course, there is a place for such considerations but they are not the key issue.” Mr Demidenko continued on with his analysis by pointing a finger at the Obama administration. “This battle is part of the information war, to be able to say that they have achieved something in the fight against Daesh(ISIS). This is above all necessary for the Obama administration, to be able to announce some kind of success in this field.”

Photo: Reuters

Russia and Syria will do what they can to secure Palmyra as the region’s oil production which amounts to 30,000 to 40,000 barrels a day is quite the prize. The Islamic State during its occupation of the region in 2015 used these oil fields to set up an industrial-grade illegal oil operation which have found its way into coalition allied countries like Jordan and Turkey, raking in close to $800 million in revenue back to the Islamic State itself. Russia has continued to accuse Turkey of colluding with ISIS in regard to the illegal oil smuggling but as of yet, there is really no concrete evidence to these claims. Turkish President Erdogan maintains his hard-line stance to these accusations and continues to deny these claims as well. The head of the Energy Commission in the Syrian Kurdish subdivision in Rojava, Salman Khalaf stated however that “The only borders open with Daesh(ISIS) are the ones with Turkey.” Mowaffak Rubaie, a former Iraqi national security advisor was more diplomatic “No insurgent group, whether it’s the Islamic State or not, can survive without a neighboring country either directly supporting it or turning a blind eye to it,” he said. “The Turks have to come clean and be on the side of counter-terrorism in the region, full stop.”

About the Author

About Derek Gannon

A freelance journalist based on the West Coast. Green Beret veteran of the Global War on Terror. He researches and reports on African, and Horn of Africa Terror Networks & News. Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare Member, Humanist, and Former Armed Anthropologist that longs for what was, the American Dream. Veteran of 82nd, 173rd, RTB, & "The Legion" 5th Special Forces Group (A/1/5 CIF). Twitter: @derekgannoncm6.

BECAUSE, FACTS DON'T TAKE SIDES

More From NEWSREP

Comments

Join our community. To comment on this article please join/login.
Here's a sample of the comments on this post.

peter h

"eluding" should be "alluding"

Jake D

From what I understand, we had a cordon set around Mosul and granted them safe passage to withdraw from the city. They primary "why" is easy: less fighters to deal with inside the city itself, but it is unclear what the second and third order effects of that are.

Sanmon

I started reading some of the major European papers and don't like what I am reading regarding US strategy. Here in the states we are reading and seeing who goes up to Trump Tower. I think Trump needs to be at his daily briefings "Daily". He may have the shortest 100 day honeymoon in Presidential history.

Michelle B

Did we (U.S.) provide ISIS safe passage on purpose, to redirect their attacks to Syria? (If we can control a region sufficiently to provide safe passage, surely we know who we are protecting in that passage, yeah?)

Sanmon

So if I am reading this correctly:
We have been fighting ISIS in Iraq in the city of Mosul yet they escape the attack and now position themselves some 700 km down the road in Palmyra SYRIA and no one sees this movement of 5,000 ISIS troops.
Who is helping ISIS make this great strategic movement? It sure is not Russia or Syria.

Thanks for reading. Try 4 weeks of unlimited access for $1.99
SUBSCRIBE NOW

We’re glad you’re enjoying NEWSREP. You’re almost out of free articles for this month.
SUBSCRIBE NOW

YOU HAVE ALREADY REACHED YOUR MONTHLY LIMIT TO ACCESS OUR ARTICLES.

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO CONTINUE READING.

Your subscription is important and supports our editorial integrity. Advertisers are sometimes afraid of being associated with controversial news topics, and your subscription is vital to ensuring we can continue to publish the courageous news we are known and respected for.